CWL Sheffield 2017 Preview

21 June 2017 15:08

The Call of Duty World League comes to Sheffield this weekend, with up to 64 teams battling it out for a $10,000 share of the $25,000 prize pool and 38,900 CWL Pro Points.

The two-day event, on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th June will be held at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, which has previously hosted EGL10 and EGL12, and Sheffield fans can look forward to a feast of eSports action right on their doorstep. Following CWL European events in London, Paris and Birmingham already this year, South Yorkshire will now play host to four-verses-four Infinite Warfare battles, hosted by EGL.

The event is open to all players aged 18 and over, and will see an open bracket, pro play pool and championship bracket in action in front of a legion of adoring UK fans. Twelve teams will be automatically placed into the pool play groups, with a further four teams qualifying from the open bracket, and all will receive CWL Pro Points and prize money based on their overall performance.

The Pool Play Groups

The pool play groups are as follows:

Pool A

Red Reserve

Era Eternity

Zealous eSports

Open Bracket Team

Pool B

Epsilon eSports

Team Vitality

MRN eSports Blacks

Open Bracket Team

Pool C

Millenium

Supremacy

District Red

Open Bracket Team

Pool D

Fnatic

Elevate

Opulent eSports

Open Bracket Team

CWL London, Paris and Birmingham

At CWL London in January 2017, Orbit eSport EU came out on top beating Splyce 1-3 3-0 in the grand final. Their team of Joseph "Joee" Pinnington, Rhys "Rated" Price, David "Urban" Marsh and Trei "Zer0" Morris actually finished runners-up in Group C behind Team 3G, but still reached the grand final after triumphing 3-0 against Splyce in the Round One Winners Bracket, overcoming infs 3-2 in Round Two, and seeing off Elv EU 3-2.

February 2017 saw OpTic Gaming take home $40,000 and 10,000 pro points at CWL Paris after a convincing 3-0 victory over FaZe in the grand final. Seth "Scump" Abner, Matthew "FormaL" Piper, Ian "Crimsix" Porter, Damon "Karma" Barlow all impressed to lead the United States-based side to an impressive success.

Epsilon eSports emerged victorious at CWL Birmingham in April 2017 thanks to David "Dqvee" Davies, Stephen "Vortex" Allen, Billy "Hawqeh" Harris and Joshua-Lee "Joshh" Shephard. The quartet guided their team to a 3-0 3-0 grand final win over Splyce after topping Pool C with a perfect 3-0 record.

It’ll be fascinating for COD fans worldwide to see who follows Orbit eSport EU, OpTic Gaming and Epsilon eSports by taking the glory at CWL Sheffield. eSports is clearly growing in the United Kingdom, and this tournament will surely capture the imagination of all involved.